From Red Dead To Square Enix, Readers Submit More Last-Gen Heroes

We're wrapping up our second week of Last-Gen Heroes, our series looking back at the last eight years of console video gaming. Kind of gnarly that the PS4 and Xbox One come out so soon, no? Just a few more weeks now.

As with last week, the opinion-warriors at TAY have been busy writing their own articles about the heroes and zeroes of the last generation. Here's what they've come up with this week:

• General McFist argues that the first Mass Effect was both hero and zero.
• DocSeuss also has it both ways, but in talking about the sequel, Mass Effect 2.
• Koda89 says that while Katawa Shoujo—which features a cast of disabled girls that you can have sex with—should've been one of the most depraved games ever created, it was instead "one of the most emotional and thought provoking games" he has ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
• Damsonrhee calls Borderlands one of the heroes of the last generation, and talks about how "it all started with a song." I totally agree.
• JJthetexan says that the Wii Virtual Console was a hero, as it allowed him to catch up on the console generation he'd skipped.
• DocSeuss continues to choose to highlight good PC games of the last few years, this time talking about how STALKER is a last-gen hero. It's a little bit outside the realm of the series, but this is a cool essay about why STALKER is a good game, so.
• Doc then climbs aboard the crazy-town express and offers that Red Dead Redemption is possibly the last-gen's biggest zero.
• Sitting right next to Doc on that particular train is Brikbraker, who says that the Wii Shop Channel (Yes, the Wii Shop Channel!) was a last-gen hero.
• Vexorg righteously says that one of the biggest last-gen zeroes was all of the extra downloading we had to sit through. Amen, brother.
• Yourmotherisaclassylady (heh) argues that Square Enix was another zero of the last gen, failing time and again to deliver what fans want.
• Ending on a positive note, two readers, F50!! and UI2.0, posit that the PS3 strategy RPG Valkyria Chronicles was one of the best of the last gen. I only recently finally played this game, and I'm inclined to agree. Terrific game. That tank boss battle can bite me, though.

Thanks as always to all TAYers for participating, and to everyone for reading! We've got another week before we'll start to dig into the bigger lists, so things should keep on cooking right up until November 15.